Mark Koester

Awhile back I was walking along a beach when I came upon a series of heaped rocks stacked on top of each other. In English we can refer to these man-made piles of stones by the Gaelic term, cairn. In...

Self Self-Improvement Purpose Introspection Abroad Reflection Decade-in-Review Travel

ChatGPT has changed how I journal. In the realm of personal and creative endeavors, few activities are as intimate and reflective as journaling. It is an avenue for exploring our thoughts, processing emotions, and capturing our life journey. Yet, in...

Tracking Self-Tracking Writing Natural Language Processing Journaling Artificial Intelligence ChatGPT AI Data-Driven You

The room was noisy, and the faces of our judges seemed distracted as we gathered in front of them to pitch our project. It wasn’t an ideal scene to have a conversation, let alone attempt to explain the problem we’d...

Attention Hackathon Tracking Eye Tracking Gaze Tracking App Building

Tick-tock, tick-tock. Time is one of our most precious resources, yet it often feels like it slips away without us even realizing it. What if there was a way to better see where you spend your time and use it...

Time Time Tracking Time Management Tracking Data Visualization Quantified Self Track Everything Reflection Productivity

Uptempo Lofi Beats Music for energized flow, productivity and creative doings.

Music Music Production Stellar Mammals Album Release Lofi Beats Focus music

Have you ever struggled to finish a creative project? Felt disorganized, uncertain, or unmotivated when it comes to making progress on a single song or even finishing an entire multiple song album release?

Learning Music Production Music Music Production Tips Creativity Ableton Live Goals Productivity Creative Organization Spreadsheet Track Everything

Have you ever found yourself in a creative rut, struggling to find inspiration or motivation to create something new?

Learning Music Production Music Learning Journey Music Production Tips Creativity Ableton Live Goals Flow

How long would it you take to learn music production and produce your first music album? What are some of the stages and steps in such a journey? And what are some practical lessons and tips I uncovered as a...

Learning Music Production Learning How to Learn Music Learning Journey Music Production Tips Ableton Live Goals

For me, an annual review is an evaluative narrative reflection on the past year and year ahead. Basically an annual review is a way for me to take account on the broad outlines of the positive’s and negative’s from the...

Tracking Goals Personal Development Track Everything Podcasts Annual Review Year-in-Review

What would it be like to have greater self-awareness about where our time goes? What would you learn about yourself if you saw how you spent your minutes and hours each and every day? How might you discover and notice...

Time Time Tracking Time Management Tracking Data Visualization Quantified Self Personal Data Analysis Track Everything Year-in-Review Year-in-Data

I read a few more life’s worth of books in 2022. According to my reading logs, I read a total of 58 books spanning 17,365 pages. The average length of a book I read was about 299 pages. I had...

Books Book Reading Tracking Data Visualization Quantified Self Personal Data Analysis Track Everything Year-in-Review Year-in-Data

At the start of each new year, I pull together all of my data from a range of self-tracking services. I then use that data to calculate average numbers and generate charts and graphs about different aspects of my past...

Tasks Writing Health Data Tracking Data Visualization Quantified Self Personal Data Analysis Track Everything Year-in-Review Year-in-Data

“I just wish I had more time” Everyone

Time Time Tracking Time Management Tracking Data Visualization Quantified Self Personal Data Analysis Track Everything Year-in-Review Year-in-Data

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” George R.R. Martin

Books Book Reading Tracking Data Visualization Quantified Self Personal Data Analysis Track Everything Year-in-Review Year-in-Data

Music to Take You Somewhere

Music Music Production Stellar Mammals Album Release Ambient Relaxing Music Focus music

Does mindfulness meditation make us less caring about the world? Less ethically and socially oriented? And more passive and self-centered?

Book Review Philosophy Buddhism Politics Ethics Meditation

How can we use technology to enable positive behavior change, as opposed to promoting distraction and negative behaviors?

Track Everything Fasting Longevity Behavior Change Self-Tracking Habits Design Tracking Progress

Time management is all life is.

Book Review Time Time Management Philosophy

How can you start growing a business, startup or side hustle when you aren’t even sure who your customers are or even how to reach them?

Track Everything Marketing Growth Hacking Growth Marketing Startups Data

My personal data analysis of my tasks reveals that I completed less tasks in 2020 compared to 2019. Even though I had a consistent weekly goal completion rate, I failed to reach several of my major goals. Most impacted when...

Project Management Task Management Todoist Tracking Data Visualization Quantified Self Personal Data Analysis Track Everything Year-in-Review Year-in-Data